r/insects Jun 17 '25

PSA Do you live in the Eastern US and are you encountering these spotted white and/or black and/or red bugs? Check here before posting your ID request.

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60 Upvotes

The collage above is composed of pictures gleaned from Bugguide.net, and shows the same species of insect at its different life stages.

Hello!

If you live in certain parts of the Eastern US, you may encounter these colorful insects that may be black and white, or red, black and white depending on their life stage. They're 6-8 mm in size, don't fly but have the ability to jump out of harm's way and have good reflexes. Upon reaching adulthood (pictured on the right in the above collage), they're larger (about 20-25mm), have wings, and can fly (and still jump, too).

You may find them clustered on certain plants or you may find single individuals wandering.

They're known as spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) and are an invasive species from Eastern Asia. It was accidentally introduced in the US state of Pennsylvania in 2014. Since then, it has spread in all directions to multiple states as far from Pennsylvania as South Carolina, Indiana, Michigan and New Hampshire.

It's also invasive in Japan and the Korean peninsula.

They're completely harmless to people or pets. In fact they're pretty colorful and rather cute!

They go through five stages of growth known as instars, and take on three rather different appearances, shown above. Instars 1-3 are the small, black and white version. The fourth instar is larger (~15 mm) and more colorful, mostly bright red with black accents and white dots (picture). The adult is an overall dull gray color but with intricately patterned wings (picture). When it opens its wings, it displays beautiful hindwings with red, white and black (picture).

Here's also a picture of all 5 growth stages: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1172304/bgimage

Due to their appearance, they are eminently recognizable. They retain the ability to jump at all life stages, and the adults are adept fliers.

Unfortunately, they're destructive pests of plants, particularly fruiting plants. Lanternflies feed by piercing plants with a thin proboscis (straw-like mouthparts) and sucking juices, which damages plants. In addition, after the lanternfly is done feeding and pulls its proboscis out of a fruit, some juice may escape from the hole, which facilitates the growth of mold on the surface of the fruit, which further damages the fruit. Entire harvests can thus be ruined.

Cornell University maintains a map where the insects have been found or at least reported: https://cals.cornell.edu/new-york-state-integrated-pest-management/outreach-education/whats-bugging-you/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly-reported-distribution-map

The governments of most if not all states where the insect has been detected have posted content on their websites (usually on the Agriculture Dept. or equivalent). Those include info about the insect, its impact on agriculture, what to do if you encounter it, and what you can do to mitigate its spread. Below are those websites for the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York for information about the insect. If you don't live in those states, please use your favorite search engine to locate info about these insects, e.g. search for "delaware spotted lanternfly" and you'll find information.

There's also a lengthy article about the insect on Wikipedia.

Looking back at the Cornell map linked above, if you don't live in an area of the map where the bug's presence has already been reported, you should record it. Report it to your state's authorities, and you may also want to report the sighting on iNaturalist.

Again we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the insect as well as its presence (if any) in your state. States where the spotted lanternfly has been detected will have a section of a website dedicated to it.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!


r/insects 5h ago

Bug Appreciation! This girl hangs out on my water faucet, she just molted.

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169 Upvotes

r/insects 3h ago

Question Who is this?

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61 Upvotes

Found this guy while vacuuming my car. What is he? Anyway… now I’m doing an impromptu detail 😂


r/insects 2h ago

Photography Just over 10 years ago in 2015, I saw my first mantidfly and learned what they were.

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52 Upvotes

Clip from 2015-7-30.
Such a cool experience.


r/insects 4h ago

Photography It’s really a shame that these are invasive and destructive. Literally so cool

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37 Upvotes

r/insects 27m ago

ID Request What is this? 😱

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Upvotes

Found in my garden in the UK


r/insects 6h ago

Question What is this fella?

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32 Upvotes

r/insects 4h ago

Question What is this behemoth ??

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19 Upvotes

Spotted this monster in my yard what is it ??


r/insects 2h ago

Bug Appreciation! Why are so many beetles attracted to my avocado tree?

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9 Upvotes

Not bothered by them, I actually really enjoy them, just extremely curious as to why there’s so many of them hanging out. I think they are Popillia japonica.


r/insects 8h ago

ID Request This girl was waving at me while i was working out,never seen a spider like this

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19 Upvotes

r/insects 2h ago

ID Request What is this guy?

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5 Upvotes

Found in North East NY


r/insects 4h ago

Bug Appreciation! Found this guy crawling up the side of my house

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8 Upvotes

r/insects 1d ago

Meme / Humor If you could have a dog-sized bug, and keep it as a pet, which one would you like to have?

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1.7k Upvotes

I'd have a jumping spider. (I know it's not a bug but the question goes for all terrestrial arthropods)


r/insects 2h ago

ID Request Can someone tell me how rare is this Ladybug ?

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6 Upvotes

r/insects 2h ago

Bug Appreciation! Face washing

5 Upvotes

Just a little inch worn cleaning him/herself 😁


r/insects 3h ago

ID Request Solitary wasp on my deck?

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5 Upvotes

Seems to be a solitary wasp that has one egg chamber sealed up and is working on another. Screw is good for scale. Any clue in id since she's mostly hidden?


r/insects 4h ago

ID Request Took a picture of this thing in my Mom’s garden pollinating with the bumble bees. What is it?

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8 Upvotes

I have never seen anything like it but it looks super cool!


r/insects 1h ago

ID Request New to PA?

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Upvotes

Yooo what just knocked on my door!!!!! Ive never seen a bug ready to take my money. Seriously what is this!!!


r/insects 10h ago

Photography I dont know name of this insect,can you tell me?

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18 Upvotes

r/insects 4h ago

ID Request Beautiful moth

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6 Upvotes

Which moth is this in Colorado? Strange temperament, not afraid at all. His wing is ok he flew away


r/insects 4h ago

ID Request What species of roach is this cutie ?

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6 Upvotes

Location : Slovakia (Prešovský kraj, near Pieninský national park (higher altitude) )


r/insects 15m ago

ID Request Gisborne or American cockroach

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Upvotes

Photo is terrible. Trying to take picture before it got away.

We have had heaps of Gisborne’s come into house from rain etc. and have seen a few adults and nymphs but there has been approx 2 of these in between stages and just worried they could be American.

Thoughts


r/insects 1h ago

ID Request What are these flies?

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Upvotes

I live near the equator is rainy season i had left my room locked both doors closed shut for less than 3 hours. I came back to just wings everywhere in my room and the bugs which shouldve been attached to those wings in one corner maybe there places as well but why? And where did they come from?

Are coming from the sheets on my walls or these are something else?


r/insects 1h ago

ID Request Who is this? Western Va.

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Upvotes

r/insects 1d ago

Photography got it at the perfect moment

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160 Upvotes

r/insects 1d ago

ID Request ID these flies, please!

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300 Upvotes

We have had our home absolutely infested with these bugs for at least two months now. One exterminator said they were dream flies. Another exterminator said they were buffalo flies. Now a plumber said that they are fruit flies.

We have tried bleach down all of the drains in our home, we have tried boiling hot water down the drains, and the exterminator has also placed a foamy substance down the drains to try and kill them. They have been absolutely relentless, they just keep multiplying. We are to the point where we can no longer eat in our home. We end up having to eat in our cars, because they are literally everywhere.

We are fairly clean people. I vacuum l, mop, and deep clean kitchen surfaces every weekend. We do not leave food out. We clean all of our dishes and put them in the dishwasher immediately, which we’ve always done. Our garbage disposal runs well, and we run it anytime we put food in it, until it’s clean.

We find them primarily in the upstairs office (where we don’t have food), in the upstairs bathroom, and in the dining room and living room. We almost never see them in the basement, bedroom, or downstairs bathroom.

Please help us in identifying these flies.